was down during the democratic convention. and preparing for the debates in vermont. in your reporting, who is helping mitt romney and who is helping president obama? >> mitt romney is being held by a bunch of people. the senior strategist on his campaign. you have senator robb portman playing the role of barack obama. it is his job to get under romney's scan the way they expect obama to get under romney's skin. on the obama side, you have two white house veterans who are running the debate prep for president obama. you have senator john kerry, who has been there himself. >> what happens during these mock debates? >> they do not talk a lot about what happens during these. what they try to do is try to set a situation that is as realistic as possible for the actual debate. they do it at the same time and night the debate will take place. they set up a set just like it will look like in denver. they are used the environment. they have somebody to play the moderator and ask questions. obama does not like sound bites. as his campa